Ioulita Iliopoulou

Ioulita Iliopoulou was born in Athens. She studied Byzantine and Modern Greek Philology at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Athens and theater at the Drama School of the Athens Conservatory. She writes poetry, essays, and fairy tales. Five of her poetry books have been published: "Kalous Eniaftous Marko" (1987), "Digamma" (1992), "Euchin Odyssei" (1997), "From One to Two" (2000), "11 Places for 1 Summer" (2006), as well as two children's fairy tales: "What is Zenon Looking For?" (2004, State Children's Book Award) and "The Green Hood" (2008), along with the translation of P. E. Shelley's work "A Defence of Poetry," all published by "Ypsilon/Books," and the essay "The Doll" (published by Ikaros, 2008). In 2000, she wrote the libretto for Giorgos Kouroupos's opera "The Fir Tree Ship," and in 2002, the poetic text for the lyrical tragedy "Jocasta" by the same composer, which was presented at the theater of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi. Her fairy tales "What is Zenon Looking For?" and "The Green Hood," with music by Alkis Baltas and Giorgos Kouroupos, respectively, have been presented in Athens and elsewhere. Alongside poetry, she writes essays, studies the work of Odysseas Elytis, and has given numerous lectures on the subject. She also edits book publications. For thirteen years, she collaborated with the Orchestra of Colors and the Melina Mercouri Foundation to create programs combining speech and music. Together with Spyros Sakkas and Giorgos Kouroupos, she presents musical programs based on poetry. One of these, dedicated to the poetry of Elytis, was released as a CD-book titled "With the Lamp of the Star" (published by "Ypsilon/Books").